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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

May 2008 Cruise -- Day 4, Carnival Glory

TuesdaySt. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

We could feel the sea a little through the night. Nothing serious but we were going through some choppy water.

As we approached the island of St. Thomas and the dock in Charlotte Amalie, capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands we saw two other Carnival ships already there.At the north end of the dock was Carnival Triumph. At the south end leaving just enough room for our ship to squeeze in between was Carnival Miracle. Captain Rassello cleverly used the ship's side thrusters and we managed to slip in between the other ships with very little room to spare. In the photo above you can just make out the forward ship and the space our ship will occupy (look for Carnival's trademark whale's tail smokestack in the distance).Because we docked in Nassau before we got to St.Thomas and because the U.S. Virgin Islands are an "organized, unincorporated United States territory" -- we have to go through U.S. customs here. Even if we are not getting off the ship! The ship's computer is so good that after an hour or so of long lines of passengers getting checked by customs there was an announcement that about 60 people still had not passed the check point. A few minutes late they started reading names.After lunch we got off the ship and walked to the Havensite Mall to get duty-free goodies. The temperature was quite mild. We expected humid, tropical heat. The port and the hillside homes are very beautiful. And you can use your U.S. cellphone, if you stand in the right spot.The cruise so far:Port Canaveral to Nassau279 Nautical miles, 321 land miles, 516 kilometers

Yes, the latest cruise was fun and the ship was colorful but I think we like Princess Cruises better than Carnival. And that's a bit strange as Carnival owns Princess, and even stranger, Carnival owns Cunard!

Please keep checking back to read what happened on Days 5 to 8. And oh, the towel animals get better and better.